Véronique LaCapra

Science Reporter

stlpublicradio.org

Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug while writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio pieces at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France.

Unlike their cold-weather relatives, Humboldt penguins live only in South America, along the rocky Pacific coast of Chile and Peru. The Saint Louis Zoo’s Michael Macek has been monitoring the penguins there, tracking their health and numbers.

According to a new study, the Midwest is getting hotter. With this summer's record-breaking temperatures, that probably doesn't sound like news.

But a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows our hot weather isn't an anomaly - things have been heating up across the Midwest for the past six decades.

The study found that on average, some Midwestern cities like St. Louis now have twice the number of very hot, humid, summer days as it did in the 1940s. Nighttime temperatures are also on the rise, and heat waves of three or more days are becoming more common.

A new report by the Missouri Foundation for Health estimates that about two-thirds of Missouri’s more than 800,000 uninsured could get health insurance under the federal health care law. The county level data suggest that rural counties will benefit the most.

The fast food chain Hardee’s says it will stop buying pork from suppliers who use gestation crates – the cramped metal cages where many industrial pork producers house pregnant sows for most of their adult lives.

Some of Missouri's largest insurance companies will be refunding consumers almost $61 million this month under a provision of the federal healthcare law. Insurers who failed to spend at least 80 percent of premium-dollars on medical care and quality improvement have to repay the difference to consumers.

As part yesterday's Supreme Court decision on Obama's health care law, the justices ruled the federal government can't revoke states' Medicaid funding for failing to comply with the law's required Medicaid expansion. And as Véronique LaCapra reports, that could leave some Missourians without access to health insurance.

The bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, which lives in the human gut, is just one type of microbe that was studied as part of the Human Microbiome Project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Researchers have completed the first comprehensive census of the human “microbiome” — the trillions of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that live in and on our bodies.

A new study out of Washington University suggests that women who use short-term birth-control methods like the pill are 20 times more likely to have an unintended pregnancy than those who use longer-term options like intrauterine devices or implants.

A new report by the advocacy group American Rivers says when it comes to managing flooding along the Missouri River, the US Army Corps of Engineers should rely on floodplains and wetlands, not levees and dams. But the Corps doesn't see flood management as an "either/or" proposition.

Biologist Edward O. Wilson is an emeritus University Research Professor at Harvard. Through his life-long research on the behavior of ants, he has transformed the disciplines of ecology and evolution, developing new theories and pioneering the field of sociobiology.

This year's mild winter and early spring has plants flowering and putting out leaves about three weeks sooner than usual. Some insects are out early too, but that may not mean it's time to stock up on extra bug spray.

Insect scientists say biotech corn is losing its ability to fend off a major insect pest known as the corn rootworm. The scientists say continued widespread use of genetically-modified corn will only make the problem worse.

Ameren Missouri is pledging to increase its energy efficiency programs starting in 2013. If the plan is approved, it would allow Ameren to provide 145 million dollars in energy efficiency rebates over three years – a cost that would be passed on to consumers.

A new report by the American Lung Association gives Missouri failing grades on all its state tobacco control policies. As St. Louis Public Radio's Véronique LaCapra reports, the only bright spots were an expansion of state Medicaid coverage for smokers wanting to quit, and a surge in local community initiatives.

There's more evidence that for most men, getting an annual PSA test doesn't help reduce the risk of dying from prostate cancer. Experts say men diagnosed with prostate cancer need to weigh the risks and benefits of treatment.

A statewide coalition of environmental groups and advocates has submitted five thousand signed petitions to the National Park Service, urging the agency to do more to protect the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri. As St. Louis Public Radio's Véronique LaCapra reports, the coalition is pushing for more enforcement and a stronger management plan for the Current and Jacks Fork rivers.